Around same time last year, our team got together with this initiative that would come to be known as Chase Up Diary. We had some idea how we need to execute our plans, but majorly, it was by sheer hard work, commitment and collective effort of everyone involved that we were able to translate an idea into results. Hence, it gives me immense pleasure to now present to you the third edition of Chase Up Diary. Sitting through editorial meetings for this edition, it made me realize we have come a long way in content development and creativity for the magazine. That is also evident from feedback we received from our val-ued readers over the last year. Your appreciation has encouraged us to strive towards delivering even better results.

We have tried to put together for you all develop-ments of previous six months. Our CEO, Salman Bashir, was interviewed for Aurora’s July – August 2019 edition. His views expressed in the interview were widely quoted on many business forums dur-ing recent months. We are reproducing the interview here as we believe his views and vision deserve a wider readership in the industry and the organization.

As an organization, highlight of the period was the launch of our Gujranwala Store, which came about by strength of our backs and sweat of our brows. For our employees, highlight of the period were, of course, successful conclusion of appraisals of the perfor-mance year 2018 – 19. We congratulate all deserving colleagues who have been promoted to new roles this year and wish them all the best for their coming years at Chase Up.

Keeping its tradition alive, Chase Up HR, contin-ued to set trends in the industry with newer ways to facilitate employees. In July, we held a 2 days’ medical camp, where our colleagues went through free medical examination. We hope this helps them to maintain a healthy lifestyle and wish them a healthy and blessed life.

Among other articles included in the magazine, are accounts of Independence Day celebrations, trainer and consultant Farhad Karamally’s visit to Chase Up Head Office, Chase Up’s plans for CSR initiatives, in-formative pieces on HSE activities at Chase Up and NLP, and usual features which have become insepa-rable part of this magazine.

I am thankful to my team and all contributors who took out time to write for us. We are thankful to Almighty that our readers, especially Chase Up col-leagues, now look forward to not just read this maga-zine, but also contribute to it.

Chief Patron: Bashir Abdul Ghaffar

Salman Bashir, Jawad Bashir,Mustafa Bashir

Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee

Azam Tariq Kohistani

Nasrullah Nasir

Mirza Hashaam Ahmed BaigMuhammad Yousuf Munir

Patrons:

Chief Editor:

Editor:

Sub-Editors:

Art-Editor:

Chase Up Human Resource Department

139-Q, Block 2, P-E-C-H-S, Karachi

Publisher

Editorial

Chief EditorMuhammad Raihaan Siddeequee

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Aurora: When was Chase Up established?SALMAN BASHIR: Chase Up was originally

established as Chase in 1984 as a single store in Baha-

durabad. At the time, there were only small shops in Karachi and although our outlet was not very large, it was a success from the start because it was one of the

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first departmental stores in Karachi. Later, we opened branches in Clifton, Gulshan (Nipa Chowrangi) and Shaheed-e-Millat Road. Then, 20 years later, a split took place within the family. Three brothers (including my father, Bashir Abdul Ghaffar, Founder and Chair-man, Chase Up) formed one group and the other two brothers formed another group. Two outlets (those on Nipa Chowrangi and Shaheed-e-Millat Road) were now owned by my father’s group and to differentiate between the two groups, we named ours Chase Up. Unfortunately, by this time (April 2005), the business was not doing very well and when the Deewan Group asked to rent our Shaheed-e-Millat branch, we agreed. In order to clear our inventory there (mainly cloth-ing, shoes and home ware), we held a closing sale and brought down the prices drastically. Customers came in droves and within 10 days, the stocks were cleared. The sale was an eye-opener for us.

Aurora: How so?SALMAN BASHIR: It made us realise that the

reason why our outlets were not doing well was be-cause our prices were too high, which was why, from time to time, we would offer discounts. However this approach did not make sense and we realised we were not concentrating enough on our customers and on factors such as quality and affordability. After the sale, we decided our new business model would be based

on providing quality merchandise at reasonable prices rather than relying on sporadic discounts. My father rented the Nipa outlet from my uncles and we re-launched in June 2005. We bought items in bulk and cash (to get the lowest rates possible) and sold them at fixed, low prices. The business started doing well and we now have eight branches; six in Karachi, and one each in Faisalabad and Multan.

Aurora: When did Chase Up branch into grocer-ies?

SALMAN BASHIR: In 2009, we bought a large store in Clifton (near Dolmen Mall). On the first floor, we set up our clothing and home ware departments and we used the space on the ground floor to open a small supermarket as an experiment. It worked and when we opened our Shaheed-e-Millat branch a year later, we had a supermarket there as well. However, we still concentrate on clothing and have opened a design studio and introduced brands such as Jalpari (women’s prêt) and In Sole (shoes). In this way, we provide a wide range of shopping options and this differentiates us from our competitors.

Aurora: In addition to clothing, what other prod-ucts do you offer?

SALMAN BASHIR: We have introduced a range of ‘in-house’ household items such as dishwash-ing liquid and soap, hand wash, multi-purpose cleaners and tissues, as well as foodstuff such as flour, pulses and rice. All are competitively priced and popular.

Aurora: Who is your primary target audience?SALMAN BASHIR: The major chunk of our

customers are from the middle and lower-middle class, although a significant number are from SEC A. To ca-ter to the latter, we are upgrading our current stores to provide them with a ‘shopping experience’.

Aurora: What sort of differences do you see be-tween customers in Karachi and those in Multan and Faisalabad?

SALMAN BASHIR: Purchasing power in Pun-jab is relatively high, even among the lower SECs. They do not have any problems when it comes to purchasing commodities such as butter, milk and wheat and this is due to the presence of an agricultural belt. In Karachi, our customers are primarily businessmen and profes-sionals and they are harder to please, because they are more budget-oriented and savvy. Karachi is a tougher market to penetrate. From what we see, in Punjab, peo-ple seem to have higher disposable incomes and we will be opening a branch in Gujranwala shortly. Gujranwala store has been inaugurated since and is being appreci-ated by consumers in Gujranwala.

Aurora: How has the economic downturn affected retail?

SALMAN BASHIR: It has affected everyone and sales are down, especially of imported items. How-ever, there is a positive angle to this; as reliance on im-ported goods decreases, local companies will be forced to come up with viable substitutes. Another way that the downturn has affected us is that when we open a new store, the equipment (chillers and generators) is all imported. This means that setting up a new store is now much more expensive due to the devaluation of the rupee. In fact, retail has become a low-return, high-risk game and in some cases, a high-investment, low-returns game. Earlier, it was much easier and not as expensive to open a retail store. Another contributing factor is that real estate prices continue to rise, so it is even harder to make profits.

Aurora: How have profit margins been affected?SALMAN BASHIR: They have decreased, al-

though revenues have not been impacted as much. This is because as a large volume player, Chase Up receives benefits from distributor discounts on commodities such as soap or oil. FMCGs’ prices have been increasing and several brands have added smaller SKUs because

c u s t o m e r s want these options now. Although customers are brand loyal to an ex-tent, when prices cross a certain limit, they will look for better options. I expect that customers who purchase high-end brands will switch to cheaper options, although commodi-ties such as butter and milk may not be affected as much.

Aurora: In light of the downturn, how do you see the next 12 months unfolding?

SALMAN BASHIR: For us, there is an op-portunity in categories such as clothes; people who earn between five and 55,000 rupees a month will still need them and may shift to our clothes, fabric or accessories because they are cheaper. This means that despite the prevailing economic climate, there is an opportunity to de-velop new products. We are committed to pro-viding good, value-for-money products to our customers, all the while focusing on quality. We have not experienced any major setbacks in the past year and this has to do with our customers’ loyalty because we make an active effort to make our items as affordable as possible. However, in retail, we always run the risk of losing customers if we do not fulfill their expectations. To retain them, we will continue to place the emphasis on pricing, training our salespeople and customer service. Hopefully, this will prove to be a win-ning combination.

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“As reliance on imported goods decreases, local

companies will be forced to come up with viable sub-

stitutes.”

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University of Karachi’s (UoK) Department of Public Administration (DPA) will introduce a higher education program in Retail Management, which is a first of its kind program at Univer-sity level in Pakistan. In this regard, Chase Up is sponsoring an Advance Research Library at DPA, which will have latest and state of the art equip-ment and facilities. A ceremony was held at UoK VC’s Secretariat where a Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MoU) was signed for the cause by University of Karachi’s VC, Professor Dr. Khalid Iraqi and Chase Up’s CEO, Salman Bashir.

University’s VC, Professor Dr. Khalid Iraqi said that in addition to the renovation and up-grading of Advance Research Library, it was also decided that a course in Retail Management will

soon be introduced and it will be a unique course for our students to benefit from. According to CEO, Salman Bashir, Chase Up will upgrade DPA’s MS / PHD library with latest equipment and fa-cilities, which shall include multimedia projectors and screens, computer systems with network cables, furniture and fixtures and air conditioners, among other necessary equipment. Chase Up’s Head of HR, Moham-med Raihaan Siddequee and Mohammed Yousuf Munir from training and development division were also present on the occasion.

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In the usual hectic routine around the year, Ra-madan Kareem is one month where the entire so-ciety lets go all shades for one purpose. The month long supplications and good deeds are a way to achieve nearness to the Almighty. For all the time spent in a way as the Almighty desires during the month, the believers are rewarded with the festive day of Eid.

On this joyful day, Chase Up management has al-ways included all colleagues in the festivities. Need-less to say, that this practice is not limited to joyous occasions, but Chase Up stands with its workers in

dire times as well.Continuing this practice, Chase Up management

shared beautiful gifts with all staff. All cadres of the organization; from managers to domestic staff at the Head Office, Store Management to sales staff at the stores, and General Manager to loaders at our warehouses; were given special Eid gifts so we could be part of their celebrations. Upholding this tradition not only brought smiles to their faces but also contributed in ensuring they had a joyous Eid.

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Beloved Pakistan is a Blessing of the Almighty which has enabled us to

live with pride, with a distinct identity. It’s not a mere piece of land but an expression of

the sacrifices made by our forefathers for an ideol-ogy, philosophy and belief. We remember these sac-rifices each year and it is a hallmark of the nations which live on, that they remember sacrifices of their forefathers.

As every year, 14th August was celebrated with usual fervor. This year too it was national flags’ galore all around. Everyone was busy in celebrations of their own, expressing their love for Pakistan.

The day was marked by extra ordinary hustle bustle

at Chase Up stores. Be it the Store Managers, security team or the sales staff, all were occupied in prepara-tions for the day. For those looking on, it appeared as if the arrangements were being made for a special dignitary.

Moments later it was clear that the preparations were for Independence Day festivities. Stores were decorated with national flags. Delicious and eye-catch-ing cake was brought in on a table. Festivities began at the same time at all stores with recitation of Holy Quran, followed by distribution of cake among all those present at the store. The ceremony ended with prayers for wellbeing and safety of our homeland.

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Chase Up management has always strived to duly recognize efforts and labors of its employees. To achieve this objective, a program called Team of the Quarter (ToQ) was launched in 2017. Its objective was to create and promote a sense of healthy competition among employees, to be held every three (3) months.

This year too, this program was implemented in its true spir-it. All departments at all stores participated enthusiastically. All did their best to excel in competition as the incentives included monetary rewards along with certificates. After 3 months of con-tinuous struggle, dedication and commitment, results were an-nounced on conclusion of 3rd quarter.

Breaking records for all previous quarters, Faisalabad Store managed to outdo Multan Store. In preceding quarters, Multan had topped all competitions. For Quarter 3, Faisalabad Store se-cured 5 titles, Multan 4 while Hassan Square, Shaheed e Millat Road and Ocean bagged 1 title each. It is a spectacle to watch happiness of all winning teams. Framed pictures of all winning departments were installed at all stores, along with individual re-wards and certificates.

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A year ago, in our first edition of Chase Up Diary, we had the privilege of first sharing a digital impression of the then under development Chase Up’s Gujran-wala Store. In this edition, we are pleased to share with you that Chase Up Gujranwala opened its doors to consumers in the city on 25th September, 2019 and a grand launch of the store was held on 28th September. Chase Up continues to expand in Pakistan and is proud to have opened its new Mega Store in Gujran-wala with an area of more than 70,000 sq. ft. Chase Up’s specialist team of architects, engineers, mer-chandisers and store operations have set the bench-

mark for creating a marvel and a new design concept in Gujranwala, the seventh largest city of Pakistan.Chase Up stores attract large number of custom-ers on a daily basis in Karachi, Multan and Faisalabad due to the availability of wide range of quality products under one roof and that too, on wholesale prices!Now people living in Gujranwala and other nearby cities, in-cluding Gujrat, Hafizabad and other towns can also experi-ence the same offering by Chase Up and enjoy shopping like never before.This new store features architectural and interior design con-cept that Chase Up aims to incorporate in its stores, which

will significantly im-prove the customer ex-perience.Chief Guests RPO Gujranwala and Chairman of Chase Up, Mr. Bashir Abdul Ghaffar, along with other distinguished guests were present with CEO, Directors and the Manage-ment team of Chase Up at the Grand Opening of the Store. Gujranwala store of Chase Up is a com-plete departmental store having products of all de-partments under one roof including Grocery, Fresh Fruits, Vegetable, Meat (including Marinated Chick-en Meat), Garments, Footwear, Crockery, Toys and Electronics, amongst others on wholesale rates. Con-sumers can also have fresh juices at the store. Chase Up stores are open 7 days a week for the customers.Since 1984, Chase Up has continued to grow and play a major part in building the retail industry of Pakistan by offering the best and wide range of products on

rea-s o n -able and wholesale rates to the consumers. With 6 stores in Karachi and 1 each in Multan, Faisalabad and Gujranwala, Chase Up also offers the facility for Online Shopping through its website and app, while non-smartphone users can also order via call. Soon, Chase Up plans to expand further by opening new stores across Pakistan.

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It was my second successful team activation event that I got to witness i.e. successful opening of new, state-of-the-art Chase Up Gujranwala Store. It has also become very visible with time how growth strategy has been effectively rolled out over the last few years. Energy, passion, enthusiasm and level of participation of newly hired staff in this event were

Keeping human resource engaged and commit-ted is crucial in achievement of broader business goals. A well-executed team activation event, espe-cially at the time of inauguration, helps in unlock-ing human resource’s true potential by laying out the desired direction for them and inspires them to strive to achieve beaconing business goals.

face coming challenges and enable them to recog-nize expectations that management has of them.

Also present at the event were Director Chase Up, Mustafa Bashir, Head of Human Resource, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee Regional Manager, Azhar Baig and Regional HR Manager, Rao Jameel.

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a sight to behold and inspired by hard work and persistence of the leadership team. Obviously, ev-eryone in the team had given their best for suc-cessful execution of Gujranwala project and has consequently raised the performance bar for future projects.

In his address to newly hired staff at the inau-guration, Mr. Jawad Bashir, Di-rector Chase Up, emphasized on achieving excellence in custom-er service through humility and persistently relating with cus-tomers’ needs. He also said that going that extra mile in customer satisfaction is the key to individual and organization’s success.

Customized training activities by industry renowned trainers, Akhtar Abbas (CEO, High Potential Ideas) and Wali Zahid (CEO, Skill City) were a pleasant initiation for our new family members who joined Chase Up at Gujranwala store. Among the topics covered during these sessions, importance was placed on personal grooming, communication, team work and leadership skills.

At conclusion of this Team Acti-vation event, efforts of all those who had contributed in putting it together were lauded by the management. We hope and believe this will go a long way in keeping the staff prepared to

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Healthy employees are not only crucial for an organization’s development, but are also helpful in creating an overall healthy society. Climate change and increased environmental pollution have also affected human health. Chase Up employees are facilitated with medical and life takaful coverage by Jubilee Health Takaful. Prestigious hospitals all over the country are included in the panel.

Chase Up HR department organized a 2 days’ health screening program, on 18th and 19th July, 2019, for its warehouse and operations staff, at Star Warehouse, to increase self-awareness about their health among the employees. Renowned doctors from Indus Hospital examined hundreds of staff members. The examinations included taking blood

pressure, blood sugar, chest and pulse examina-tion and tests for jaundice and digestion among other tests. Staff were appropriately advised and prescribed medicines which will be helpful in maintaining their health and go for further treatment if need be. No doubt, working for others’ health and happiness is a spiritually re-w a r d i n g act. nn

According to medical experts blood’s circulation life in human body is 120 days. Blood donation is

sadqa e jaria as it saves lives. As a Corporate Social Re-

sponsibility (CSR) ini-tiative, Chase Up HR

department col-laborated with

Indus Hos-pital to

hold a blood donation camp on 19th July, 2019, at Star Warehouse. More than 50 staff members made blood donations because it is our collective belief that saving one human life is like saving entire hu-manity. Donating blood is also a national duty as Pakistan has often suffered accidents, natural and other disasters.

This blood donating exercise was a completely safe procedure because donors’ blood was tested for Hepatitis B and C, Malaria and Syphilis, but donors were also given information on these along with their hemoglobin and blood group. Donors were provided a certificate and blood test report by Indus Hospital.

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“What is this NLP?”People queued up to inquire as

soon as registration mail was sent out by training department.

“Is it a training on Psyche?”Another asked, “I am susceptible to anger, will

this help me?” However, since this was a new training, people were

apprised that “Neuro” refers to Neurology, “Linguistic” is for study of languages, and “Programing” implies how brain’s neural language works. Meaning what causes one to do certain actions and why and how the thoughts in one’s consciousness are translated into actions.

There are benefits to understanding this. For example, if certain kind of behavior is harmful for a person, it can be easily amended. If certain behavior is beneficial, it can be adopted and taught to others as well. This is called modeling under NLP. Through this process, a more use-ful and effective lifestyle can be adopted in a short span of time.

A session on NLP for Chase Up’s senior management was conducted on 21st and 22nd November, 2019, at Ka-rachi School of Business and Leadership, by trainer Waji-huddin Umair. In sessions that lasted from 10 am to 5 pm, captivating practical sessions were also conducted along with theoretical discussions. Particularly, how fright, pho-bias, depression, uncertainty, temper and embarrassment can be overcome to establish cordial relationships with clients.

During one of these practice sessions, a participant ex-pressed dislike for syrup and fondness for tea. Hence, to convert his dislike into acceptance, he was asked to close his eyes, take a deep breath and build an outline of both, syrup and tea, using his sixth sense. He was communicated in a peculiar way to replace his constructed imagery of tea with that of syrup and imagine the taste and smell of the syrup to be same as tea’s. In similar ways, the participants went through other practice sessions which were aimed at elevating their individual and team productivity, confidence, communication, mindset and results.

Lunch and other refreshments had been arranged for the participants at KSBL cafeteria. At the end of the sessions, Head of HR, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee presented the trainer with a shield and handed certificates to all partici-pants.

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Farhad Karamally is a distinguished business consultant, author and trainer. He recently visited Chase Up’s Head Office and called upon CEO, Salman Bashir. He was accompanied by another accomplished trainer and consultant, Zeeshan Khan. Upon his arrival, he was received and welcomed by Head of Human Resource, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee.

Matters of mutual interest were discussed on this occasion. CEO Chase Up, Salman Bashir shared his plans for Chase Up’s future and steps being taken to achieve it. Head of HR, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee, had a fruitful discussion on activities of HR department, with particular focus on Orga-nizational Development, Performance Management model and Training initiatives. Farhad Karamally mentioned that he follows updates on social media on Chase Up’s training ac-tivities. He appreciated Chase Up HR’s practices and efforts towards employee branding.

On 28th November, 2019, HR Legends Forum organized a one-day seminar at Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) on “Digital Transfor-mation of HR”. HR professionals from different sectors and organizations were invited to the seminar. The event was inaugurated with an address by Founder & CEO of HR Legends Forum, Ghulam Mustafa, on the day’s topic.Head of HR, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee, and Assistant Manager, Learning & Development, Muhammad Yousuf Munir, participated on behalf of Chase Up.The gathering was addressed by many other renowned speakers who are serving as senior HR office bearers with different orga-nizations. Among these speakers were Syed Asim Rashid (CEO, Creative Swan), Zafar Aziz Osmani (CEO, Excelerate Pvt. Ltd), Rizwan Dalia (CPO, K Electric), Asma Shaikh (Group CHRO, National Bank of Pakistan), Tazeen Shahid (CHRO, Jubilee Life) and Kamran Siddiqui (Group CHRO, The IBL group). On the occasion, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee, presented copies of Chase Up Diary to his counterparts from other organi-zations and some of the speakers.

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U.S. Commercial Service - an overseas arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce published a report on Pakistan Retail Industry that there are more than 2.5 million shops in Pakistan, most of which offer basic products only. Majority of these shops are specialist stores that only offer a single range such as grocery, utensils, hardware, stationery, etc. and between 1,000 to 1,500 wholesalers mainly in larger cities. Most of these retailers still operate on the traditional brick and mortar model with over the counter transactions while multina-tionals hold a very negligible share.

About a year ago, Bloomberg reported that Pakistan’s retail sector could become one of the fastest growing in the world. However, no research or industry insider substantiated this forecast, at least for the year 2019. If this is the case, then what is the industry missing?

According to a UK based lifestyle web-site, retail-focus.co.uk, a research for retail market in year 2020 suggests that retailers and suppliers should consider an omnichannel ap-proach as a newfound efficient concept that could help them thrive in future retail market-place.

Omnichannel retail is a retail industry term used to describe brands selling across channels, including branded websites, marketplaces, brick and mortar stores and social commerce such as Facebook and Instagram. This modern approach to retail focuses on designing a well-rounded user experience (virtual or physical) and creating

a buying experience that is nothing like what was around five years ago. The approach believes that each key element of the omnichannel strategy are of individual importance; brick and mortar stores will remain important for customer interaction in order to build trust, a branded website is key for customer convenience and accessibility and the opportunity to sell across social channels taps into

the increasing prevalence of recommendation purchasing. When taking this into context, a consumer can find the latest

offers on Facebook or Instagram and then to ensure the quality and genuineness of the product and store, the consumer can visit the store physically. The brand’s website will provide more conve-nience to the consumer by having a complete layout of the store along with floor, section and aisle details about where the desired merchandise is shelved. To confirm if the offer is still valid, the consumer will scan the bar code at a nearby device, which will dis-play the current price. On the way out, the consumer will pay for the purchase by scanning the QR code using an e-wallet mobile application at the cash counter.

This last step in the experience is another major disruption; the advent of Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), regulated by State Bank of Pakistan, which is expected to issue more licenses over the next few months. This shift will make shopping, especial-ly grocery shopping as it involves the largest sums on a monthly basis, both quicker and more convenient and we can expect it to roll out across stores throughout the next couple of years.

The key to success in 2020, is combining the likes of Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality being used to help brands interact with the customer. An omnichannel ap-proach will allow for the use of smartphones within the physical environment, with the likes of H&M and Sainsbury’s being the pioneers for this cross-channel activity.

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For any institution, sincere time, effort and hard work put in by its employees is unavoidable. It is the responsibility of the institution to appreciate these efforts and timely encourage its employees for con-tinuous improvement. To this end, Chase Up too completed appraisals for 2018-19, after thorough process and reviews.

The process starts each year in July and all eli-gible employees’ performance is gauged against their KPIs and competencies. Performances are ranked in descending order as “Outstanding”, “Exceed Ex-pectations”, “Met Expectations”, “Below Expecta-tions” and “Unsatisfactory”. Chase Up HR facilitat-ed the process in all departments. After completing due process and in line with practice, results were announced where as an outcome, seventy nine (79) employees were promoted to new roles. With 16 promotions, Faisalabad store was prominent where-as there were nine (9) promotions at Warehouses, nineteen (19) at Head Office and thirty five (35) pro-motions were shared between other stores of Chase Up. All Chase Up stars were awarded certificates and issued increment letters, and their pictures were hoisted at all Chase Up premises.

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We cannot be ignorant of the people and society around us. Ignoring worsening conditions of people around us is tantamount to shying from one’s responsibilities. We, at Chase Up, have some of the best benefit and welfare policies among employers in retail sector. Further to our commitment for best welfare Policies, we also have an extensive Social Responsibility program to help not just our employees, but deserving people for whom we receive recommendations from our employees to help them in dire circumstances. Recently Chase Up supported four staff members for construction of their houses. Over the years this support has been extended to many staff members and their families and is expected to continue.

Alterman (Garments, Multan)

Driver (Administration, Head Office)Shelf Boy (Grocery, Nazimabad)

Cleaner (Administration, Multan)

Chase Up sponsored 15th Writers’ Awards for renowned kids’ monthly

magazine, “Saathi”.

Chase Up participated as a Diamond Spon-sor at 2nd FENTA Festival organized by

Pakistan Business Forum.

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Kamran is a regular customer of Chase Up. He shops for his monthly grocery on Chase Up E Store because he is satisfied with Chase Up’s standards, price and ser-vices. Upon opening grocery section of the website, first desired items are selected and then clicks on order button so he can receive a call from our telesales officer.

“Assalam o Alaikum Mr. Kamran! Thank you for choosing Chase Up. Please confirm your order; flour (10 kg), sugar (2 kg)”. As per the list, product, brand, quantity, prices are repeated and confirms the order. In the end he asks how does he prefer to pay; through cash or credit / debit card?

Kamran is aware that Chase Up has a free and quick delivery service across Karachi and his order will be de-livered within 24 hours. He resides on 5th floor of a complex but he need not come downstairs to receive his order; delivery boy takes his merchandise to his door-step.

On the customer feedback form, Kamran has always given scores very generously on quality, prices, service and to delivery boy, because he always conducts him-self in a very pleasant manner. He stands aside after knocking on the door. Well dressed, always smiling and greeting with Assalam o Alikum in a pleasant way. The delivery boy upon delivering the order opens the pack-age so Kamran can check and asks if he is satisfied. Upon Kamran’s positive response, he asks about the mode of payment and accepts payment by cash or card, as per Kamran’s convenience and never forgets to leave by thanking him.

Since Kamran is a regular Chase Up customer, in-stead of selecting an order each time, he places an order by opting for one of his previous orders in history op-tion available. Very often he doesn’t even need check the order by opening it upon receiving because he plac-es his trust in Chase Up since he is aware of Chase Up’s exchange / return policy. He is aware that by showing his invoice at any Chase Up store, he can get his items exchanged or returned, or a representative from E Store will collect it from his home in person.

As a frequent contributor of suggestions and advice to Chase Up management, Kamran is well informed

about all platforms to do so; WhatsApp, phone calls, website, mobile apps, all have options for dropping suggestions or advice. Whenever he has given a sugges-tion or advice, Chase Up representatives got in touch with him to amicably note the suggestions, ensuring to repeat it to let him know that it has been recorded. He also thanks him for his suggestions. Kamran has observed his suggestions being incorporated in Chase Up’s service, which is satisfying for him.

Kamran also follows Chase Up’s Facebook page where he fre-quently comments and shares posts from the page and tags his friends living out of city. Users inquire from him through comments if Chase Up’s services are avail-able in cities other than Karachi. In response, he in-forms indeed it is, it takes four to six days and exchange or return policy is also applicable.

Chase Up has complete confidence of Kamran. He has introduced Chase Up to his col-leagues at work. He recommends Chase Up because Chase Up not only provides GST invoice but also offers credit.

Chase Up considers all valued customers in-cluding Kamran as family members because their trust defines our success.

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Almighty has blessed Pakistan with not just countless natural re-sources, but also human resource.

As per United Nations’ statistics on human development, 64% of Pakistan’s total population is below 29 years of age (MoC, 2019). E Commerce in Pakistan has demonstrated growth. There are 71

million internet users in Pakistan.

Presence on online platforms

Chase Up is present on all online plat-forms including websites, mobile ap-plications (IOS, Android), WhatsApp, emails, and phone calls.

When did Chase Up E Store start operations?

Chase Up started its E Store ser-vice in 2016. It is Chase Up’s mis-sion to ensure quality, reasonably priced, quick and easy online ser-vice to our customers.

What can you buy?Grocery (only for Karachi), per-sonal care, electronics, jewelry, crockery, stationery, hosiery (un-dergarments, towels), etc., can be ordered online.

69.64 million 3G / 4G

subscribers

58% people use internet

daily

36 million Facebook

subscribers

31% people use internet weekly

1.26 million Twitter

subscribers

8% login to internet monthly

6 million Instagram followers

About 2% use internet

occasionally

69.64 million 58%

36 million 31%

1.26 million

8% 6 million

2%

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We never forget our loved ones on blessed occasions. Spreading and celebrat-ing happiness is what we know as life. Chase Up always stands alongside its staff

in celebrating their joys. Whether it is the good news of childbirth, someone’s birthday, performing Hajj or someone has performed extremely well in any field,

Chase Up is always with them.

As in other organizational matters, Chase Up leaves no stone unturned in organizing recreational trips and events for its staff. Rea-son being that it is recommended by concerned experts that there should be break from work after long spells of hard work. Chase Up Gulshan store’s management and staff took time out for a picnic at a farmhouse where they spent their time enjoy-ing themselves, playing games and swimming. Food was also arranged at the venue where the staff could treat themselves.

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Chase Up Multan’s Mubashir Zafartied the knot on 9th November, 2019.

We wish a Happy Birthday to Muhammad Fa-heem’s son, Muhammad Abu Dujana and daugh-

ter, Hafsa Faheem, on behalf of Chase Up.

On 22nd June, 2019, little princess Anabia ar-rived in Malik Qasim Ali’s home

Bilal Ubaidullah has been blessed with a daugh-ter, Anum Billal.

Our staff member Fahad Farooq’s kids performed with distinction in respective educa-tion programs; Abdul Wahab stood first, Abdur Rehman came second while Abdul Sami

was declared champion.

Section Head Crockery, Syed Sarfaraz Hussain celebrated his birthday on 29th December, best

wishes for him.

Chase Up congratulates Sohail Qureshi, Senior Executive – HSE, on successfully completing

Train the Trainer (British certification).

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Ney Year, New Year’s Eve, or the New Year’s Day, all part of the same celebrations as the cal-endar changes. Since, Gregory calendar is the most prevalent and used calendar, this celebration is usu-ally referred to as the one taking place on 1st Janu-ary, globally. But in different cultures, other calen-dars are still in use. People of Iran, for example, and Zoroastrians celebrate their New Year’s day as Nauroz. Chinese too have their own occasion of New Year. So do the Telugu people in India, who celebrate Ugadi, or the Assamese, also in India, who celebrate Bihu.

The celebrations on this occasion are in hope for a better and blessed year ahead. It is a common practice now to embrace, congratulate and wish each other with similar hope and prayers for a bet-ter year.

Think about it, New Year is actually a time for us to assess our spiritual and physical state and take a look back at the year gone by to asses our achieve-ments and losses. And if you have done so and waiting for the New Year to change yourself for the better, do not wait, THIS is the time to do so. Be-cause time is like an ice slab on a sunny day, which won’t wait for anyone, better put it to use before it melts away.

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In contemporary times, occupational Health and Safety is recognized as a mandatory support function to keep business operations risk-free for employees, stakeholders as well as the general community. Creating a safe and healthy work environment has never been as essential as it is today. A single incident causing injury or death can have far-reaching and devastating consequences for a business. Developing a safety awareness culture not only helps an organization to significantly reduce incidents, injuries and preventable costs to business, but also aids in achieving social acknowledgement.

Realizing the importance and need of a safe and healthy work environ-ment, Chase UP management in 2017 expanded the scope of efforts in a bid to develop a formal structure of Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE). With dedicated and skilled resources, HSE department didn’t take much time to assess the challenges and ascertain the needs to uplift com-pany’s safety profile from basic to advance level.

Along with a clear vision and direction, HSE team started the journey aiming to improve on two key factors to start with; industry standards and employees’ awareness. While HSE team strived to equip all Chase Up locations with minimum required tools to tackle fire and medical emer-gencies, simultaneous efforts were made to develop training modules en-compassing basic and technical knowledge on safety.

Numerous in-house and outdoor training sessions were conducted throughout this period to prepare not just fellow workers, but to enable the organization as a whole to respond professionally to any emergen-cy. Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) were formed for each site and trained to use the equipment competently and effectively.

As of today, all Chase Up locations are equipped with sufficient fire extinguishers, smoke detection and alarm systems and first aid kits with regular inspections on daily, weekly and monthly basis in addition to quar-terly preventive maintenance to keep the system healthy and fully func-tional. Chase Up’s all new sites are equipped with sprinkler system which speaks volumes of the management’s commitment to safer work condi-tions.

As we are moving into 2020, HSE aims to organize frequent drills and rehearsals in order to further Chase UP’s capacity to provide a safe and healthy environment to its workers, business partners and customers.

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Home Pride is emerging crockery and home ware brand which is popular among women consumers. When asked for comments, Section Head for Crockery at Chase Up, Sarfraz Qasim and Zohaib Ahmed said, “recently at 2nd International Consumer Product Fair 2019, Home Pride was presented for exhibition at Expo Center, Karachi.

“Among prominent categories for this brand are kitchen ware, table ware, dining ware, glass ware, and kitchen tools. Kitchen ware includes utensils like fry pans, and these stand out for being coated with alu-minium non-stick coating, for which it is claimed that it resists damage and blackening of surface, given that precautions are taken.

“Other categories, which include table ware, dining ware, glass ware, are usually manufactured from opal, glass and melamine. Kitchen tools are usually made from plastic or steel. It is worth mentioning that most of the products are heat resistant and can be used in mi-crowave ovens and dish washers. Home Pride’s all plastic products are food grade to ensure health and safety of consumers. Families too prefer the brand as gifts on wedding, due to its fine packaging. Home Pride products are available at all Chase Up stores in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad and Gujranwala.”

Pioneer, imported from Thailand, too is a promi-nent crockery brand. Chase Up is an official dealer for the brand which too was presented for exhibi-tion at 2nd International Consumer Product Fair. All kind of prospective consumers, including household, corporate, wholesalers and other buyers visited Pio-neer’s stall at the exhibition. Pioneer’s plastic products are available in more than 1200 categories and sizes. Among its prominent categories are kitchen ware, home ware, bath accessories, dining ware and stor-

age ware. Most of its products are food grade, which means they are germ resistant and as per health stan-dards. It is popular among women for its attractive colors and designs.

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Higher education is faced with multiple challenges in Pakistan, especially in public sector. We, senior manage-ment and faculty at University of Karachi are striving to not just dispense best curriculum content for our stu-dents to keep them abreast with any University in the world, but also to facilitate them with best facilities to give our students an educational experience that ranks among the best.

We are glad that corporate sector has reached out to us to help us accomplish our mission. Chase Up is among the first such organizations who offered us to upgrade some of our facilities. Department of Public Administration (DPA), at University of Karachi, is one of the most progressive faculties at UoK. I am pleased to share with you that Chase Up will be financing up-lift project at Department of Public Administration. In the meetings leading to this understanding, Mr. Salman Bashir, CEO, Chase Up, was gracious enough to vis-it the Department in person and share his vision on enhancement of education and skill set of human re-source in retail industry in Pakistan.

It does not happen every day a CEO of a renowned concern expresses his views with such candidness. Hence, we decided to do our bit by agreeing to offer dedicated courses on retail management at DPA. We

hope this collaboration between Chase Up and UoK is just the start of a fruitful and long lasting partnership. Our prayers and best wishes are for Mr.

Bashir Abdul Ghaffar, Mr. Salman Bashir and their family.

I had the opportunity to talk to Chase Up new hires at Gujranwala outlet’s inaugural activation. Their energy and enthusiasm was remarkable.

What these talks from external speakers can do is bring fresh perspective, increase employee engagement and give new impetus to people. It breaks the work monotony.

Since this was already an inaugural activity, mo-tivation of new hires was at an all-time high. The management’s magic would be to keep this moti-vation alive, and increase the dose every passing week and every quarter so Chase Up’s revenue target and customer service benchmarks for 2020 could be achieved.

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Any position of front-line service is most prestigious. Service is equal to Ibadat.

When offering assistance to a customer, it is the retail staffs’ duty – farz; to step-up to give

the customer a memorable and inspiring ex-perience. Being a customer at Chase Up, I am always happy and satisfied to visit your out-lets. Yet, there is no end to how much one can improve. The desire to be better; to fulfill the obligations of a job – a promise; to aspire to outshine and live a life of honesty, integrity and contribution is a life lived fully. With this message, my wishes for the learning and devel-opment team of Chase Up are to continuously strive for higher ideals so as to make any and every customer interaction an unforgettable opportunity. HR Diary is a commendable ini-tiative which has been appreciated by its read-ers for its diverse content.

Its content is engrossing, educational as well as very relevant to the industry and has enough insights for observers like me to take cue for how major players in retail can be en-gaged.

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My engagement with Chase Up started about a year back. I was visiting retail

chains for a large scale human resource development program, under the auspices of United Nations Develop-

ment Program. I remember walking in to Chase Up Head Office and being pleasantly surprised. It was unlike any other organization in the sector; progressive and up to date. Throughout the following months, i.e. for the duration UNDP remained involved in the pro-gram, I got to see and know the Senior Management very closely. I was unsurprised when Chase Up offered their training facilities for the training sessions. It says a lot about the extent the Manage-ment is willing to go to be a socially responsible organization. Since, then I have had a chance to exchange views with their Head of HR, Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee, on countless forums. I can see that Chase Up is bound to go places, provided they execute their plans with same enthusiasm as I have witnessed until now.

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Please accept my heartiest congratulations on the launch of 3rd edition of this beautiful and informative quarterly magazine, Chase Up Diary. This magazine is a testimony to Mr. Bashir’s phi-losophy of putting ‘people before business’. It is this core philosophy that has successfuly placed Chase Up apart from its counterparts. Being an ex-Chaser myself, I am witness to Mr. Salman Bashir’s utmost dedication towards employee betterment and prosperity which results in su-perior business performance and growth. For this mighty task, he chose a visionary leader, Mr. Muhammad Raihaan Siddeequee who , with his passionate team of HR professionals, is setting new examples of best HR practices in Pakistan. If such activities continue, I will not be surprised if Chase Up ranks itself among the best employ-ers in near future, InshaaAllah.

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Chase Up has succeeded in becoming a trust-ed name in retail in a short span. Surely, the management has had a major role to play in this achievement. Capable staff, willing to give their best, is key to accelerated growth of any organi-zation. Chase Up Diary is an initiative worthy of appreciation and in my opinion, best mode to let the world know of other initiatives and efforts by the management.

I recently came across Chase Up Diary’s sec-ond edition and have read most of the articles. Salman Bashir’s interview is an account of an envious journey from failure to success. New en-trepreneurs can definitely learn from it. The ‘Did you know?’ piece on store merchandising is an article that can supplement a case study perfectly. I hope and wish Chase Up Diary continues to publish such informative pieces.

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Ramazan is a blessed month. The fact that Holy Quran was revealed in this Holy Month, is testament to this month’s status. It is also important to un-derstand that why Almighty has chosen this month among all months for us to attain closeness to Him.

Fasting softens and mellows our hearts and our hearts turn towards those lawful desires only which Almighty has deemed appropriate for us. Demand-

ing routine of fasts makes us realize there are bless-ings that we take for granted as well as fear the out-come of unlawful acts. Only when one relates to these feelings, the need for being thankful dawns upon him.

Chase Up arranges for special festivities on all religious festivals. This blessed Ramazan, Chase Up organized Iftar for its Head Office, Stores and Warehouse senior management at Lal Qila restaurant. Such activities are

also necessary to improve informal relations between staff. Iftar was preceded by special prayers for wellbeing of the organization and everyone associated with it. Iftar

was then followed by specially arranged dinner for the participants.

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Chase started its journey with its first store in Bahadurabad in 1984. Since then, each new store has been a milestone achievement. Chase Up Shaheed e Millat Road store was inaugurat-ed in July 2010, which was our 4th store to be opened.

Each year, every Chase Up store celebrates its respective anniversary. Chase Up Shaheed e Millat Road too celebrated its anniversary with usual fanfare. Cake cutting ceremony was held and prayers were made for the progress of the store and Chase Up. Regional Manager Operations, Saif ul Karim and Store Manager, Zaman Shah were present on the oc-casion.

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